The university so far has raised $629 million that is being used to support student financial aid, faculty chair endowments, building and research centers and to increase the university's overall $352 million endowment, said Todd Simmons, spokesman for the university.

"We've pulled this off in the worst economic period in 70 years," Simmons said.

Ray announced the fund-raising campaign's results and new aspirations at the annual President's Dinner in Portland on Friday night.

"At the campaign's public launch three years ago, I expressed confidence in reaching our ambitious goal," Ray said in a prepared statement. "I am even more confident that we will reach $850 million – and that we will see benefits for our students, our state, and our world beyond what we can now imagine."

More than 53,000 donors, including one in every five alumni, contributed to the campaign. Current and former faculty and staff have kicked in more than $11 million.

Interest on money raised so far has been used to create 32 endowed faculty positions, bringing the total to 78, and to support 400 new scholarship and fellowship funds. Last year, more than 3,000 students received $5.4 million in privately-funded scholarships.

Some of the donors have contributed to specific projects, including the Animal Sciences Education and Research Pavilion, the Gill Coliseum renovation, the Goss Stadium expansion, the Microproducts Breakthrough Institute and the Reser Stadium expansion. Donors also have helped fund the Halle Ford Center for Healthy Children and Families and the Linus Pauling Science Center, both now under construction.

The campaign has drawn more than 110 gifts of $1 million or more, twice the number of gifts of that magnitude in all of OSU's history.

The new phase of the campaign will focus on raising money for merit-based scholarships, endowed faculty positions and other faculty support, a $50 million building for the College of Business and a $15 million sports performance center that will provide practice facilities for men and women's basketball.

The university's goal of raising $850 million is the most ambitious fund-raising effort in the state's history, Simmons said